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THEMES AND PROBLEMS

MIDDLE SCHOOL

When a decision is made by a member to compete in an event, it is imperative that the member thoroughly read and understand the rules, regulations, procedures, and evaluation criteria for the chosen event(s). National TSA is responsible for addressing mistakes or discrepancies in the competitive event guides and accomplishes this through competition updates on the TSA website. National TSA is not responsible for interpreting, advising, or suggesting ways that a member might develop a viable response or solution to a competitive event challenge. 

 

  • Website Design

Website Design

Design Brief: Community Story

Challenge: Develop a website that captures the essence of a local community and shares stories, history, or significant events that have shaped the community. The website should include an interactive element (e.g., timeline, map, etc.) that the user can interact with to understand the history or stories of the community. Your entry for this event is an exception to the general rules for the 2026 National TSA Conference regarding identifying information and you may include school or chapter name if it is the same name as the community used.

HIGH SCHOOL

 

  • Photographic Technology
  • Prepared Presentation
  • Promotional Design
  • Robotics
  • Software Development
  • STEM Mass Media
  • Structural Design and Engineering
  • Transportation Modeling

Photographic Technology

Theme: Photo Essay Series; Create a series of photos that tell a story

Prepared Presentation

Topic: Everyone knows the classic game of rock, paper, scissors: rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock. At the end of the day, which is the most revolutionary tool? Develop a presentation in which you select one of these three technologies/tools and describe its impact on human civilization.

Promotional Design

Theme: Create promotional materials for a chapter-hosted event in which TSA alumni return to the chapter to share career stories, run workshops, and mentor students. The promotional items must include: 

  • an event information flyer
  • a social media promotional graphic
  • a name badge template
  • a promotional item of the participant’s choice

Participants should use the following details in the designs:

Event title: “Back to Impact: TSA Alumni Day Celebration”
Date of event: June 2-4, 2026
Chapter name: Bluewater Heights School of Innovation TSA
School mascot: Jets
Address: 870 Trail Bend Road, Bluewater Heights, MD 21903

Robotics

Software Development

Develop a software program that removes barriers and increases accessibility for people with vision or hearing disabilities.

STEM Mass Media

Headline: The green past of the Saharo-Arabian Desert: Cave deposits reveal recurring humid periods over eight million years

Background: A new study led by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry has uncovered compelling evidence that the Saharo-Arabian Desert—today one of Earth’s driest regions—experienced multiple periods of significantly wetter climate over the past eight million years. Researchers analyzed speleothems, or cave deposits, from seven Saudi Arabian caves and found chemical clues indicating repeated monsoonal rainfall that transformed the desert into a habitable landscape for thousands of years at a time.

These wetter intervals likely enabled the migration of mammals, including early human ancestors, between Africa and Eurasia—despite the desert’s role as a natural barrier. The study highlights the powerful influence of climate change on human and animal history, as well as the importance of cave formations as records of ancient weather patterns. Using isotopic analysis and radiometric dating, the team also discovered that the decline of monsoonal rainfall was caused by long-term cooling in the Northern Hemisphere, which shifted rain belts southward.

Prompt: Based on the following headline, develop a news broadcast that includes an introduction of the headline, a summary of the information in the news story, and an explanation of potential future implications of the highlighted work.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079999

Structural Design and Engineering

Transportation Modeling

Design Problem: The Sky is Not the Limit- Next-gen space travel.